Opinion | Hong Kong need not fear competition with its Pearl River rivals
- A proposed high-speed rail link between Zhuhai and Shenzhen has raised concern in the wake of the recently opened mega bridge, but further integration can only be a good thing
The blueprint for southern China’s “Greater Bay Area” will be released within days, but the fundamentals have been articulated by officials.
At its heart is creating an international innovation and technology powerhouse through improving connectivity between 11 cities.
Success depends on integration and ensuring easy flows of people, goods, capital and information. Concern by some in Hong Kong that a bridge and high-speed rail link proposed between Zhuhai and Shenzhen are not in the city’s interests therefore shows a lack of understanding about the development plan and its goals.
Zhuhai officials recently announced the proposal, which envisages a 46.5km bridge across the Pearl River estuary to the booming financial hub of Qianhai on Shenzhen’s west coast.
Should it win financial approval and be built, travelling times would be slashed from two hours to 30 minutes. But the idea does not sit easily with those in Hong Kong who see it as competition to the 55km bridge and tunnel system between the city, Macau and Zhuhai that opened on October 24.
Given the Hong Kong section cost at least HK$120 billion and critics contend that the government’s projection of 14,000 vehicles a day is excessively ambitious, any suggestion of competition is bound to worry some Hongkongers.